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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Cece is teething again and it is a rough thing for her. She was grumpy all day long as I was trying to finish all of the cleaning and baking for her party, and was only happy when I was holding her. I managed to get the bare minimum done for her party -- and it turned out just fine. Ellie and Lynnie took on the decorations and did a great job taping up the Happy Birthday banner, and coloring some decorations that they then cut out and taped on the walls.

Lynnie spread the frosting on the cupcakes and did the sprinkles. She was a big help.

waving to her guests was OK

Cece is a pretty good eater, so I thought she would love her cupcake. She wasn't really interested. She crumbled it up but spit out the bites she took.

I love watching {R} and Cece interact. I am praying fervently for the day that Cece will show love back to {R} instead of being sassy and grumpy with her...

After a bath to get cleaned up, where Cece screamed bloody murder the whole time (highly unusual), it was present time. Cece perked up as she opened her presents, and all of the other children crowded close to help her.

We are grateful to everyone who came to Cece's party. It is so fun to celebrate her first year of life!

~ is a pretty good eater and prefers to feed herself. Favorite foods right now are bananas, pears, apples, peeled grapes, yogurt melts, and bread & butter

~ loves to play with balls and to play catch

~ is ticklish and has a super cute giggle, especially when Ellie tickles her

~ is pretty close to walking on her own. Still cruises the furniture non-stop and prefers standing to sitting. She will take up to 2 steps between furniture, but does not like to walk while I hold her hands.

~ likes to brush her hair and brush her sisters' hair

~ is expressive about what she wants to do. She emphatically signs "all done" when she wants an activity to be over, and waves "bye bye" when she wants a person to go away (or wants me to stop talking to someone)

~ is getting finicky about letting other people hold her to feed her, including Daddy

~ is cranky sometimes, especially when she is cutting a tooth or tired, but so full of sweetness and happiness most of the time.

~ is a joy and delight! It is hard to remember our family without her in it. I am daily grateful to her birth mom for choosing us to raise her precious daughter. It is an honor to share the title of mother with {R}.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

These three girls are amazing! So full of life, learning new things every day, showing kindness & love, exploring the world.

Cece is always happiest when she is standing up and cruising the furniture. She added a new level of cuteness by trying to climb up on this giant stool, and then just hanging out for a minute.

Lynnie Lu usually likes to pick out her own outfits, and she always looks cute. Occasionally, she will let me pick out her outfit. She let me pick her new clothes that she got for Christmas, but she wouldn't let me roll up her sleeves. We grabbed a few pictures on our way to preschool.

Ellie was so excited to be invited to her friend Raegan's birthday party. The invitation said to come dressed like a pincess, and of course Ellie wanted to be Elsa. We did her hair in an Elsa braid, she wore her Elsa necklace, shoes, and dress, and we had to practice her Elsa magic outside.

When I dropped her off, she just ran into the party. When I went to leave to go pick her up, Jason was also getting in his car across the street to get Alanna. I offered to just grab them both. At Raegan's house, the door opened and I witnessed a sea of little girls dressed like Elsa (12? 15?). It was impressive. I did see 2 Anna's and Ellie also said one little girl came as Ariel. Every other girl was Elsa.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Cece's outfit today was an homage to {R}. I love the style that she has brought to our family!

white vest that I bought for her because it matches one that {R} has

I heart My Birth Mom shirt

bracelet {R} gave Cece for Christmas

cheetah skirt

leg warmers {R} gave Cece for Christmas

It is the second week with the new teachers in Primary, and Lynnie's were late (and ended up having a substitute that day). Lynnie Lu was a little nervous, but Ellie immediately said "I will take care of her!" They are such sweet sisters.

We saw Greg for about 10 minutes towards the end of Sunday School, in between his appointments. He instantly put Cece to sleep (after I had been trying for all of Sunday School). They snuggled, but Cece woke up when we transferred her back to me. Oh, well. She was happy for a while and I managed to actually do my calling (well, half of it) for the first time in what seems like months -- and played the prelude and opening song in Relief Society.

Our girls could not have more different eating habits. With a new year comes a renewal of effort to get Ellie to try fruits and vegetables. Our new procedure is for her to try one fruit and one vegetable every night at dinner. She made a list of 5 fruits and 5 vegetables she would be willing to try, and I went and got them all. So far, she has managed to gag down all of her choices, but she has not admitted to liking any yet. She does, however, love tilapia -- especially the basil pesto tilapia from Costco.

Lynnie loves fruits and vegetables, but does not like tilapia. She cleaned her plate of everything but the smashed potatoes, and ate about 5 more cherry tomatoes.

When {R} and her family came to dinner last week, they brought some baked potato chips. The girls liked them so much that when I saw them on sale at Costco, I picked some up. While I was fixing dinner, Ellie shared some with Cece. I didn't notice until she had already eaten some and seemed to like them. For her first junk food, I guess it is not the worst choice.

I decided that if she was big enough to eat potato chips she was big enough to try drinking water from a sippy cup. She loved it -- until she got a big mouthful, choked on it, and threw up all over her tray. Learning experiences...

I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them....I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ....When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance (see 1 Ne. 1:20).

David A. Bednar, “The Tender Mercies of the Lord,” Ensign, May 2005, 99

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I have been married to the most amazing man since 1994, and we have added three beautiful girls to our family through the miracle of adoption. Tender mercies abound in our lives, and I love to look for them and be grateful for our blessings.